Giandomenico Basso took a further step towards claiming the 2006 European Rally Championship this weekend, with a dominant win on the Rally Bulgaria. This was his third victory of the year, and extends his series lead to 24 points. With regular co-driver Mitia Dotta alongside, the Italian matched his compatriots’ achievements on the soccer field, powering his Fiat Grande Punto Abarth Rally to victory by nearly a minute and a half to record his second consecutive win on the event.

In 2005, Basso and Dotta arrived at the Bulgarian round of the European Championship with just three points to his name, after an early season beset by problems and misfortune. With the all-new Grande Punto S2000 at their disposal, however, 2006 has proven quite different: prior to this weekend, the Fiat crew had scored two wins and a fourth place from four starts, giving them a 15-point lead in the title race. Victory on this event last year in the factory Punto S1600 had kick-started their title campaign, and they entered the rally as clear favourites following their results thus far this year.

Whilst Basso represented the best chance of Italian success, he was far from alone, as the factory-supported Fiat Motorsport Turkey team had entered a Fiat Punto S1600 and Fiat Palio S1600 for Volkan Işık/Güray Karacar and Hamdi Ünal/Kaan Özşenler respectively. On the second round of the 2006 ERC, the Fiat Rally in Turkey held in May, Işık had won the S1600 class and finished in a superb second place overall, while Ünal had come home seventh overall and third in S1600. It was thus clear that both would prove strong contenders in the Super1600 class, especially as the rallies share similar surfaces and characteristics. In addition, local crew Ilia Tzarski/Boyko Ignatov would be behind the wheel of a Punto S1600, entered by the Auto Tzar Rally Service outfit. Opposition would come from Italian Marco Cavigioli, who had entered a Renault Clio S1600 for himself and Nicola Arena.

Challenges to Basso for overall honours, meanwhile, were posed by a whole host of rapid Group N drivers at the wheel of 2006-specification Subaru Impreza STi and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX rallycars – a mix of experienced local and foreign crews. These included Bulgarians Jasen and Dilian Popov (OMV Bulrace Evo IX), Dimitar Iliev/Yanaki Yanakiev (Boila Automotorsport Evo IX), Krum Donchev/Stoyko Valchev (Interspeed Nova Generacia Impreza STi) and Georgi Yanakiev/Marin Kostadinov (Black Cat Rally Team Impreza STi), while foreign teams bidding for outright victory were headed by Poles Michał Sołowow and Maciej Baran (who have contested a mixture of ERC events this year) in their Cersanit Rally Team Evo IX.

The 2006 Rally Bulgaria, as usual an all-asphalt event, was set to cover 826.38 km, of which 265.31 km would be timed, spread over 13 stages – seven on leg 1, six on leg 2. Rally headquarters were in Borovetz, the famous Bulgarian winter resort located around 70 km from the capital Sofia. Predictably, Basso topped the shakedown on the Thursday, completing five runs with a best time of 2:15.3, more than two seconds quicker than his nearest rival and current leader in the Bulgarian championship, Dimitar Iliev (2:17.7). The favourites were also setting the shakedown pace in the S1600 class, with Volkan Işık (2:20.0) and Hamdi Ünal (2:22.8) establishing their credentials from the off.

Held on Friday evening and viewed by 2000 spectators, the opening ‘super special’ stage would be a 2.95 km sprint around the streets of Borovetz, and from the off Basso made his intentions clear, winning the stage by one second from Iliev (1:53.3 vs 1:54.3), although all the top drivers noted a lack of grip due to the slippery surface and cold tyres. With both Fiat Turkey Motorsport entries finishing in the top ten overall as well (equal first and third in S1600), the rally was off to an ideal start for the Italian carmaker. Less fortunate was Sołowow, who stalled at the start of the stage and dropped 9.4 seconds to Basso.

This opening stage, however, was only a taster, with the rally proper starting on Saturday morning. No change from Basso’s perspective, though, as he picked up from the previous night, starting the day with a string of fastest times. He won the opening stage of the day (SS2, Muhovo, 28.89 km) by 14.2 seconds from Iliev to extend his advantage over the local driver to more than 15 seconds. This was a trend which would be repeated across the morning’s stages: on SS3, the 18.24 km Slavovitza, Basso took a further four seconds from the Bulgarian, and he extended the gap once again on SS4 (Sestrimo 1, 30.11 km) by 16.1 seconds over his rival, who was once more second-quickest. However, this pattern would be interrupted on SS5 (Velingrad 1, 12.70 km). Basso was again quickest to maintain his clean sweep of stage wins, but Volkan Işık in his Punto S1600 posted the second-quickest time overall, with Iliev only fifth-fastest. Işık’s impressive performance enabled him to extend his advantage in the Super1600 class, which he had taken the lead of on the previous stage, to 9 seconds over Czech driver Roman Odložilík (Renault Clio S1600). Sołowow, meanwhile, was suffering from more bad luck: this time, problems with the fuel pump, which prevented him from posting the times which might have been expected. After SS4, he was two minutes off the lead, not helped by a broken rim on that stage. He was not alone however – Cavigioli, too, was suffering fuel pump problems, which cost him around a minute on SS3, and the rock on which Sołowow broke a wheel also caused Georgi Tanev (Subaru) to suffer a tyre puncture and Jasen Popov to puncture his fuel tank.

Likewise, Basso and Dotta would not be immune from problems. Although their advantage over Iliev at the completion of SS5 was 43.3 seconds, the rally leaders headed to the regroup with an almost-totally exhausted clutch, and were only able to get permission to get help to reach the service area following a request to officials. Nevertheless, despite this problem, which had necessitated the car being pushed into service, the team decided that the service was too short to safely be able to change the clutch in time, and thus Basso set off almost without a clutch for the final two stages of the day, running a significant risk of losing valuable seconds to the chasing Iliev.

The beginning of SS6, the 30.11 km Sestrimo 2, was a tense time for the Fiat crew, as they stalled due to the clutch problem and needed a push from spectators to get going, losing 26.6 seconds to Iliev, who cut the gap to under 17 seconds. Avoiding a similar stall on the day’s final stage (Velingrad 2, 12.70 km), though, Basso claimed another stage win and increased his advantage once again to 25.9 seconds.
 

Rolling into the final 40-minute service of the day, where the Grande Punto S2000’s clutch would be changed, Basso had claimed six stage wins from seven, and barring a disaster, clearly had more than enough pace to win. “The first real race day went very well for us,” he said. “We had a minor problem with the clutch in the last two stages and this led to some further problems with the set-off. I am pleased with this day and the help of the mechanics. I hope tomorrow we make a good race. We will try to start with the same speed as today and to show good results. SS4 was pretty hard."

Third overall was Radoslav Kozlekov (Mitsubishi Evo IX) who was 54.6 seconds behind Basso, just 1.3 seconds in front of Krum Donchev (Subaru Impreza STi). Adding to an impressive result for Fiat was Işık, in fifth place overall (55.6 seconds behind Donchev) and sitting atop the Super1600 classification with an advantage of 19.5 seconds over Odložilík (Renault Clio S1600), although his team-mate Ünal had dropped out of the competitive reckoning earlier in the day. Local Fiat pilot Ilia Tzarski had a somewhat difficult close to the day: “During the previous stage a single part in our gearbox broke so we were supposed to drive carefully in order to keep the car. From now on it is the mechanics’ responsibility. The task for tomorrow is to aim at the first place in A6 of our Championship. Unfortunately, the damage in the car slowed us down.”

The final leg (Sunday 9th July) comprised 6 stages, two of them repeated, totalling 129.61 competitive kilometres. With his margin reduced to the problems at the end of the previous leg, Basso signalled his intent to secure the result, claiming a win on the first stage of the day (SS8, Magistrala 1, 18.24 km), and extending his cushion over Iliev to 36.3 seconds. However, Fiat’s overall fortunes were dealt a blow as both Işık and Ünal were forced into retirement on the stage along with Marco Cavigioli, who had been unable to cure his continued difficulties with his Renault’s fuel pump and stopped on the road section after the stage. Sołowow and Baran’s difficulties were also continuing, with a puncture on the road section before SS8. Stopping to change the tyre, the Mitsubishi crew arrived at the time control four minutes late and incurred a forty second penalty as a result.

Basso stormed the next stage, Tzerovo 1 (SS9, 29.08 km), the longest test of the day, to extend his advantage over Iliev to over a minute. The Fiat pilot then followed up by winning SS10 (Magistrala 2, 18.24 km) and SS11 (Tzerovo 2, 29.08 km) to extend his advantage to more than a minute and a half. With this margin in hand, fifth place on the final two stages was more than enough for him to cruise home the winner, with a comfortable 1:28.2 cushion over Iliev. The Italian was delighted with the result: “I am extremely pleased with the results in the race because this is my second victory here although the Bulgarian competitors were really serious ones. I would like to congratulate them for the good performance. I want to thank my crew who worked perfectly and also to thank Fiat for the great car they provided me with. I would also like to thank the organisers and the public. The standard here is rising every year and this should be noticed.”

Krum Donachev (Subaru) wound up third, 1:53.6 behind Basso, while Michał Sołowow, who battled mechanical maladies all weekend, came home fourth – a good performance in the circumstances. This result was, however, at the expense of Radoslav Kozlekov and Lazar Tevekelov, for whom fate held a cruel twist. Third amongst the Bulgarian pilots going into the final stage and fourth overall, an engine problem struck their Mitsubishi Evo IX on the road section to SS13, and they were forced into retirement. They were able to secure sixth place overall, thanks to the Superally restart system, but the failure would have been a bitter pill to swallow after a solid performance throughout. Perhaps even more unfortunate was Roman Odložilík, another final-stage casualty, who crashed out of fifth place and was unable to restart as the damage sustained was too great. This promoted Ilia Tzarski and Boyko Ignatov, the only remaining Fiat S1600 crew after the demise of the Fiat Motorsport Turkey challenge, to eleventh overall and second in S1600 at the finish, behind Vilhelm Kanchev/Petar Petrov (Peugeot 206 S1600).

With three wins from five starts, plus the five points he gained on the gravel surfaces of the Rally Poland, Basso has now opened out a commanding lead in the European Rally Championship. Success this weekend also continues a proud tradition for Italian marques on the Rally Bulgaria: it is Fiat’s seventh win on the rally, putting it second only to Lancia, which holds the record number of victories on the event with eight. Porsche and Ford are the next most successful marques, with four wins apiece.

The next round of the series is the Rally Vinho Madeira (3-5 August). Basso and Dotta will be looking for better luck than they encountered in 2005, where after a dominant performance throughout, the pair suffered electrical problems on the final stage, dropping them from the lead to 25th position within sight of the finish. The Rally Vinho Madeira is also the third round of the inaugural International Rally Challenge, of which Basso is currently the joint leader. He will once again be joined by Umberto Scandola and Luigi Pirollo in a sister Grande Punto S2000, who will be looking to score a solid result in their campaign for the IRC trophy.

by Shant Fabricatorian

37th International Rally Bulgaria – Final Classification: 1. Basso/Dotta (Fiat Grande Punto) 2 hrs 31:58.9; 2. Iliev/Yanakiev (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 1:28.5; 3. Donchev/Valchev (Subaru Impreza) + 1:53.6; 4. Sołowow/Baran (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 4:30.6; 5. Tanev/Sivov (Subaru Impreza) + 4:33.5; 6. Kozlekov/Tevekelov (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 7:02.5; 7. Geradzhiev Jnr/Williamson (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 7:50.9; 8. Tlusťák/Dědic (Citroën Saxo) + 8:31.1; 9. Yanakiev/Kostadinov (Subaru Impreza) + 8:55.1; 10. Kanchev/Petrov (Peugeot 206) + 9:29.0.

FIA European Rally Championship – Drivers’ standings (after 5 rounds): 1. Basso (Fiat), 35 points; 2. Iliev (Mitsubishi) and Sołowow (Mitsubishi), 11 points; 4. Andreucci (Fiat) and Kuzaj (Subaru), 10 points; 6. Cantamessa (Subaru), Işık (Fiat), Svedlund (Subaru) and Princen (Renault), 8 points; 10. Sottile (Mitsubishi), Kazaz (Subaru), Cols (Mitsubishi) and Donchev (Subaru), 6 points.